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Storm Water

Storm water utility

what is storm runoff – is it a problem?Storm water runoff occurs when precipitation from rain or snow melt flows

over the ground. Impervious surfaces like driveways, sidewalks, and streets prevent storm water from naturally soaking into the ground which increases the quantity of runoff. Storm water can pick up debris, chemicals, loose soil, and other pollutants as it moves over the surface. The storm water along with the pollutants then flows into the storm sewer system or directly to the river. Storm water management can no longer be addressed solely by building larger pipes and drains to remove storm water, but must be analyzed from a total water resources management point of view. Anything that enters a storm sewer system is discharged (untreated!) into the water bodies we use for swimming, fishing and providing drinking water.

Over the years the Clean Water Act has had little effect on eliminating pollution in our rivers. Congress passed the Water Quality Act in 1987 which requires Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (often called “MS4”) obtain National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The City of Jackson obtained our first MS4 Permit in 2003 and our second permit in 2008. These permits place limits on the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) of sediments, pathogens and dissolved oxygen/organic enrichment. The permit also requires that the City have a Watershed Management Plan (WMP), Public Participation Process (PPP), Storm Water Pollution Prevention Initiative (SWPPI), Public Education Plan (PEP), Illicit Discharge Elimination Plan (IDEP), and an ordinance for the minimum treatment volume standard and the channel protection.

Street sweeping and river bank stabilization is completed by City crews to control the sediments. The leaf pickup program controls the organic enrichment. The City performs numerous activities to protect the river such as catch basin

why deal with Storm water anyway?

In 1948, Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. This Act was working so well that the Cuyahoga River caught on fire in 1969. By 1970 Lake Erie was declared dead. Subsequently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized that the degraded quality of U.S. waterways due to pollution was in need of some serious attention. This Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972 and again in 1977 becoming the “Clean Water Act”.

This information explains the early Federal Laws but what does this have to do with the City of Jackson and the Grand River? In 1829 the City was founded on the banks of the Grand River. The first sewers were installed in the City around 1871, and by 1917 over 72 miles of combined sewers were installed to carry both sanitary and storm flow to the Grand River. The river had become an open sanitary sewer.

In the 1930s a sewerage treatment plant was constructed north of the City along the Grand River and interceptor sewers were constructed to convey the dry weather flow to the treatment plant. As a result of the sewage and smell in the river in the 1930s, a box culvert was built to cap the river in the downtown area during the WPA era. The City received federal grant money to separate the combined sewers in the late 1970s so that the City now has separate sewers for sanitary and storm flow. The River cap was removed in the year 2000.

A group in canoes and kayaks paddled from the head waters of the Grand River south of Jackson all the way down stream to Lake Michigan in July of 2010. This was the first time in almost 75 years that someone could navigate the Grand River through the City.

continued top of page 3

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above: Grand river cap construction, 1930sright: Grand river cap removal, 2000

cleaning, storm sewer cleaning, street sweeping, placing and removing oil booms in the river, bank stabilization, leaf pickup, WMP, PPP, SWPPI, PEP, IDEP, et cetera. All of these programs cost money. Even through these programs are federally mandated, federal funding is not available for their implementation. It is up to each municipality to secure funding in the most equitable way to assure that all mandated rules and regulations are being met.

what is a Utility?A public utility is an organization that maintains the

infrastructure for a public service (also providing a service using that infrastructure). The City’s Utilities:

In the case of the Drinking Water Utility, water is pumped from the aquifer, treated in the plant, sent to your property in the distribution system and you are charged a fee for the measured volume used. In the case of the Wastewater Utility, water flows from your property through sanitary sewers, treated in the plant, discharged into the river and you are charged based on a theoretical volume determined by your water use. In the case of the Storm Water Utility, a theoretical volume of water leaves your property and in many cases flows out into the street and into the storm sewer system. The City treats the storm water by sweeping the streets to minimize the debris going into the system, cleans the catch basin sumps, cleans the storm pipes, picks up the leaves in the autumn, places booms on the storm outfall into the river when oil spills occur, etc. The user is charged a fee based on the theoretical volume of storm water which could leave the property.

why Create a Utility?Why not have all of the activities from the City funded by

the City’s general Fund? Is drinking water consumption tied to property value? Does a family of five in a small house use less water than a husband and wife living in a large expensive home? Do all who consume drinking water pay property taxes? Hospitals, schools and churches do not pay property taxes. If the City just let the Property Taxes and the General Fund pay for our drinking water utility we would have many inequities in the system.

It has long been accepted that we pay for the amount of drinking water that we use as measured by a water meter at each house and business. If property owners purchase water-conserving fixtures in their home or business then they can reduce how much they pay for water and sewer. Also, by creating water and sewer utilities the City can create designated funds for these utilities so that the funds received from the users are accounted for separately from the General fund and can only be used for the operations of the utility. Funding for storm water maintenance in the past came from property taxes and street funds. A Utility would provide for dedicated funding which

could only be spent on the storm water maintenance and would not have to compete for general funds along with police and fire, or for streets funds along with potholes, snow plowing and street construction needs.

Jackson’s Storm water Utility?Jackson’s storm water utility was created by the City Council

in January, 2011. The first billing of the user fee was in April, 2011. The utility was created for the purpose of conducting the City’s storm water management program to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. It is also to provide for the proportional allocation of the cost of the storm water utility to property owners and to establish regulations for the use of the storm water system.

Storm water Utility User FeesThe most equitable method to pay for storm water service is to

look at each property’s relative use by analyzing the impervious and pervious areas of each. This way contributors to the storm water runoff pay their fair share. For billing efficiency, residential properties are billed a flat rate of $7.05 per quarter based on a calculated average residential property. All non-residential properties are billed monthly based on their Equivalent Hydraulic Area (EHA). EHA is a method of measuring a property’s impact on the City’s storm water system compared to a residential property. The formula for calculating the EHA units for non-residential properties is:

EHA Units = ((Impervious Area in sq.ft. x 0.95) + (pervious Area in sq.ft. x 0.15)/2,125 sq.ft.

The number of EHA units is then multiplied by $2.35 to calculate the monthly storm water user fee for non-residential properties.

Green Infrastructure CreditsAll properties receiving storm water user fee bills are eligible

for credits to reduce their fee by controlling the runoff from the property to minimize flooding and river bank erosion. Credits are as follows: • Residential: 50% for Rain Gardens, or On-site Storage, up to

100%.• Storm Water Quantity: 37.5 to 100% (storm water detention)• Education Credit: 25% (schools only)• Direct Discharge Credit: 75% (runoff going directly to the

river) up to 100%

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Details:Jackson Stormwater Management Manual and forms, available at www.cityofjackson.org

Questions about billings or credits?Call (517) 788-4082 / email: stormwater@cityofjackson.org

Drinking Water Wastewater StormwaterDistribution System Sanitary Sewers Storm Sewers

Water Filtration Plant Wastewater Treatment Plant

Catch Basin Cleaning, Oil Booms, Street Sweeping, Leaf Pickup, Etc.

Water Rates Wastewater Rates Stormwater Fees

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City of Jackson-Blackman Township-State Prison of Southern Michigan 2012 annual water Quality report

City of Jackson wSSN: 3470 – Blackman township wSSN: 0740 – SpSM wSSN: 6370

T he City of Jackson is proud to present the 2012 Annual Water Quality Report for all City of Jackson customers, including Blackman Township and

the State Prison of Southern Michigan. In complying with the Federal legislative requirements, this report has been developed to provide you with valuable information about your drinking water. State and Federal regulations require us to test our water on a regular basis to ensure its safety. We met all the monitoring and reporting requirements for 2012. You will see as you review this report that your drinking water meets or exceeds all government standards set for water quality and safety.

This report will explain where your water comes from, it lists the results of testing conducted at the water treatment plant and in the water distribution system and it contains important information about water and health. This report also provides information on how you can minimize contaminants in our source water.

Please help us to preserve the quality of our drinking water supply. If at any time you notice a change in the look, smell or taste of your drinking water, please contact the City of Jackson Department of Public Works-Water Division at (517) 788-4170.

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:• Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

• Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming.

• Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources, such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.

• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organics, which are by products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can, also come from gas stations, urban storm runoff and septic systems.

•Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations, which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

Where does my water come from?The City of Jackson water system is supplied by ground water pumped from 16

wells. The wells are located in two separate well fields to ensure a safe water supply

is available in the unlikely event contaminants were to were to enter one of the well fields. Water is pumped from the wells to the water treatment plant, where it is softened with a lime/soda ash process. The hardness is reduced from about 475 parts per million (ppm) to about 140 ppm. It is then filtered, disinfected, and transferred to 7.5 million gallon storage reservoir and from there pumped to our customers through the distribution system.

Source Water AssessmentThe State of Michigan performed an assessment of our source water in 2003

to determine the susceptibility to, or the relative potential of contamination. The susceptibility rating is on a seven-tiered scale from “very low” to “very high” based on geologic sensitivity, water chemistry, and contamination sources. The susceptibility of our source is “moderately high”. The susceptibility determination may be altered in the future as the City demonstrates that and active Wellhead Protection Program is supporting the management and control of existing and potential sources of contamination in the Wellhead Protection area. In an effort to do so, the City of Jackson participated in a countywide endeavor to protect our drinking water and has developed a Wellhead Protection Program. The effort has identified the ground water recharge areas for municipal wells, the potential sources of contamination, and has provided recommended actions to prevent contamination from entering the ground water.

Lead and Drinking WaterIf present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially

for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. The City of Jackson, Blackman Township and the State Prison of Southern Michigan are responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. When you water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using the water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Important Health InformationSome people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than

is the general population. Immuno-compromised persons, such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Sampling ResultsDuring the past year hundreds of water samples were taken in order to determine

the presence of any biological, inorganic, volatile organic, or synthetic organic contaminants. The table below shows only those contaminants that were detected in the water. The State allows us to monitor for certain substances less than once per year because the concentrations of these substance do not change frequently. In these cases, the most recent sample data are included along with the year in which the sample was taken. Total Trihalomethanes, Total Haloacetic Acids, and Lead and Copper samples were collected from sites throughout the community. All other regulated substances were collected at the water treatment plant tap.

2012 Regulated Detected Contaminants Tables

AL (Action Level): The concentration of a contaminant, which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements, which a water system must follow.

MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.

MCLG (Maximum Contaminant Level Goal): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or exposed risk to health. MCLGs allow for the margin of safety.

MRDL (Maximum Residual Disinfection Level): The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.

MRDLG (Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal): The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

NA: Not applicable

ND (Not Detected): Indicates that the substance was not found by laboratory analysis.

NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units): Measurement of the clarity, or turbidity, of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.

pCi/L (picocuries per liter): a measure of radioactivity.

ppb (parts per billion): One part substance per billion parts water.

ppm (parts per million): one part substance per million parts water.

TT (Treatment Technique): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

For more informationFor more information, to obtain extra

copies of this report, or for any questions relating to your drinking water, please call the City of Jackson Department of Public Works – Water Division at (517) 788-4170, visit the City of Jackson website at www.cityofjackson.org or call the U.S. EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 or visit the EPA website at www.usepa.gov/safewater/.

The Jackson City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm. The Blackman Township Board meets on the first Monday of every month at 6:00 pm.

City of Jackson Blackman Twp State Prison of Southern Michigan

Contaminant Test Date Units Health Goal MCLG

Allowed Level MCL

Level Detected

Range of Detection

Level Detected

Range of Detection

Level Detected

Range of Detection

Violationyes/no Major Sources in Drinking Water

InoRGAnIC CHeMICALS –AnnUAL MonIToRInG AT PLAnT FInISHeD WATeR TAP

Fluoride 7/2012 ppm 4 4 0.74 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A no

Erosion of natural deposits; Water additive, which promotes strong teeth; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories.

Selenium 7/2012 ppm 10 10 0.005 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A noRunoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits.

Barium 7/2012 ppm 2 2 0.02 0.02 N/A N/A N/A N/A noDischarge of drilling wastes; Discharge from metal refineries; Erosion of natural deposits.

cis-1, 2, Dichloroethylene 11/2012 ppb 70 70 0.5 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A no Discharge from industrial chemical

factories.

Fluoride 7/2012 ppm 4 4 0.74 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A no

Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories.

Combined Radium 2005 PCi/L 5 0 0.9 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A no Erosion of natural deposits.Chloride 7/2012 ppm N/A N/A 97.4 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A no Running/leaching from natural deposits.

Sulfate 7/2012 ppm N/A N/A 102 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A no Running/leaching from natural deposits; industrial wastes.

DISInFeCTAnT ReSIDUALS AnD DISInFeCTIon By-PRoDUCTS – MonIToRInG In DISTRIBUTIon SySTeMTotal

Trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Feb-Nov 2012 ppb N/A 80 28.9 23-33 41.9 35-49 N/A N/A no By-product of drinking water

chlorination.

Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)

Feb-Nov 2012 ppb N/A 60 7.4 5.0-12.0 8.1 6.0-10.0 N/A N/A no By-product of drinking water

disinfection.Disinfectant (Total Chlorine Residual)

Jan-Dec 2012 ppm MRD GL 4 MRDL 4 1.25 1.14-1.37 N/A N/A N/A N/A no Water additive used to control

microbes.

Contaminant MCLG MCL Level Detected Source of ContaminationSodium (ppm) N/A N/A 61.2 Erosion of natural deposits.

2012 TURBIDITy - MonIToReD eVeRy 4 HoURS AT PLAnT FInISHeD WATeR TAPHighest Single Measurement Cannot exceed 1 nTU Lowest Monthly % of Samples Meeting Turbidity Limit of 0.3 nTU (minimum 95%) Violation yes/no Major Sources in Drinking Water

0.33 nTU 100% no Soil RunoffTurbidity is a measure of the cloudiness of water. We monitor it because it is a good indicator of the effectiveness of our filtration system.

2011 LeAD AnD CoPPeR MonIToRInG City of Jackson Blackman Twp State Prison of Southern MI

Contaminant Test Date Health Goal MCLG

Action Level AL

90th Percentile

Value*

number of Samples over AL

90th Percentile

Value*

number of Samples over AL

90th Percentile

Value*

number of Samples over AL

Violation yes/no Major Sources in Drinking Water

Lead (ppb) 2011 0 15 1 0/33 0 0/20 0 0/40 no Corrosion of household plumbing system; Erosion of natural deposits.

Copper (ppb) 2011 1.3 1.3 0.001 0/33 0 0/20 0 0/40 noCorrosion of household plumbing system; Erosion of natural deposits; Leaching from wood preservatives.

* The 90th percentile value means 90 percent of the homes tested have lead and copper levels below the given 90th percentile value. If the 90th percentile value is above the AL additional requirements must be met.

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

US POSTAGE

Jackson, MIPermit No. 418

PAID

CITY OF JACKSONpublic works – water161 w. Michigan ave.Jackson, MI 49201

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